The Defence Headquarters has declared no fewer than eight persons wanted over the killing of 17 soldiers in Okuama community in Delta State.

The DHQ made the declaration in a post on its X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday, March 28, 2024.

Sharing the pictures of the wanted suspects, it wrote: “ATTENTION!!! The following persons are hereby declared wanted.”

The military personnel, who were killed in Okuama on March 14, were buried at the National Military Cemetery in Abuja on Wednesday, March 27.

The soldiers while on a peace mission to the community were surrounded and killed by some irate youths in the area.

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The incident occurred when the soldiers responded to a distress call after the communal crisis between Okuama and Okoloba communities both in Delta State.

Troops later recovered the decomposing bodies of the soldiers in the state.

The slain military personnel comprised one Lieutenant Colonel, two Majors, one Captain, and 13 soldiers.

The officers are Commanding Officer 181 Amphibious Battalion, Lt. Col. A.H Ali; Maj S.D Shafa (N/13976); Maj D.E Obi (N/14395); and Capt U Zakari (N/16348).

Others are SSgt Yahaya Saidu (3NA/36/2974); Cpl Yahaya Danbaba (1ONA/65/7274); Cpl Kabiru Bashir (11NA/66/9853); LCpl Bulus Haruna (16NA/TS/5844); LCpl Sola Opeyemi (17NA/760719); and LCpl Bello Anas (17NA/76/290).

They also include LCpl Hamman Peter (NA/T82653); LCpl Ibrahim Abdullahi (18NA/77/1191); Pte Alhaji Isah (17NA/76/6079); Pte Clement Francis (19NA/78/0911); Pte Abubakar Ali (19NA/78/2162); Pte Ibrahim Adamu (19NA/78/6079); and Pte Adamu Ibrahim (21NA/80/4795).

The Star